Accu-Chek Guide: Accurate Blood Glucose Monitor

Your blood sugar levels show how much glucose you have in your blood. In diabetic people, these changes are more significant and happen more often than in people who don't have diabetes which is why they frequently monitor this. This helps them keep their range in check to ensure they don't have a hypoglycemic or hyperglycemic attack.

Pre-diabetic patients are told to monitor their BGLs to ensure they are within the normal ranges; else, they may require pharmacological treatments.

Blood glucose targets vary depending on your age, type of diabetes, pregnancy status, medications, and other health factors. Your healthcare professional may recommend different targets for you.

For most nonpregnant adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes:

• before meals: 80–130 mg/dL
• 1–2 hours after the start of a meal: less than 180 mg/dL

For children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes:

Blood glucose targets should be individualized by the child’s diabetes care team. Targets may vary depending on age, treatment plan, risk of hypoglycemia, and use of continuous glucose monitoring.

For gestational diabetes:

• fasting: less than 95 mg/dL
• 1 hour after a meal: less than 140 mg/dL
• 2 hours after a meal: less than 120 mg/dL

A blood glucose level below 70 mg/dL is considered low and may indicate hypoglycemia. Symptoms can include sweating, shakiness, dizziness, hunger, tiredness, a fast heartbeat, and tingling or numbness around the lips.

If you are awake and able to swallow, follow the 15-15 rule: take about 15 grams of fast-acting carbohydrate, wait 15 minutes, then check your blood glucose again. If it is still below 70 mg/dL, repeat the treatment.

Examples of about 15 grams of fast-acting carbohydrate include:

• 4 oz (½ cup) of regular, non-diet soda
• 4 oz (½ cup) of fruit juice
• 3 to 4 glucose tablets, depending on the product
• 1 dose of glucose gel, following the product directions
• hard candies or jellybeans, using the Nutrition Facts label to determine the amount that provides about 15 grams of carbohydrate

Once your blood glucose is above 70 mg/dL and you are not eating a meal soon, have a snack containing carbohydrate and protein to help prevent another low.

Severe hypoglycemia is a medical emergency. If a person is confused, having a seizure, unconscious, or unable to swallow safely, do not give food or drink by mouth. If glucagon is available, give it according to the product instructions and call 911. Place the person on their side if they are unconscious or vomiting and stay with them until emergency help arrives or they recover.

Any result higher than the range could suggest poor glycemic control and hyperglycemia. This means that there is too much sugar in the blood. This should be treated early. Else it can lead to a state called diabetic ketoacidosis, which is a build-up of toxic ketones in your blood and urine which requires urgent treatment. This occurring long term can cause detrimental micro and macro-vascular problems, such as cardiovascular disease, neuropathy, kidney damage or kidney failure, and diabetic retinopathy, potentially leading to blindness and clouding of the usually transparent lens of your eye (cataract).